News / National
7 tollgate cashiers fired over million-dollar theft
01 Jul 2022 at 02:19hrs | Views
SEVEN cashiers at the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) Flamingo tollgate in Gweru have been fired while eight have resigned over a million-dollar theft scandal.
Acting Zinara chief executive officer Mr Gilfern Moyo confirmed the development in Gweru yesterday.
Mr Moyo was addressing a Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) - Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) roundtable dialogue and training workshop for Zinara integrity committee members.
To enhance transparency Zinara with technical assistance from Zacc has set up an integrity committee to strengthen its systems in the fight against corruption.
Mr Moyo said Zinara is weeding out corrupt employees following a scandal at Flamingo tollgate where several employees were caught stealing.
"At Flamingo toll gate in Gweru, we were faced with a theft scandal involving millions of dollars. Seven cashiers were dismissed after they were found guilty of the counts they were facing. Eight of them resigned before the internal process commenced while two were acquitted at the end of the internal process," he said.
Mr Moyo said it was unfortunate that because of corruption, even the extended families of the employees' source of income had been disrupted.
He commended Zacc for having alerted the road administration of the theft that was taking place at the tollgate.
"Zinara instituted thorough investigations after receiving a tip-off from Zacc last year that some employees stationed at the Flamingo tollgate in Gweru were abusing the Zinara prepaid cards. That is the partnership we are looking for and that is why we have the integrity committee in place. We don't condone corruption," said Mr Moyo.
He said Zinara's sole business now is collecting and disbursing funds. Mr Moyo said road authorities who include urban and rural councils, District Development Fund (DDF) and the department of roads were now handling contracts.
"These submit their annual work plans and we fund their plans. We collect and disburse funds and our source of funding is toll fees from tollgates, abnormal load fees that are administered by the Vehicle Inspection Department, among others," he said.
Mr Moyo said Zinara was in the process of computerising its operations so that they remove human interface which is prone to abuse.
"We are beefing up the ICT department, we have installed CCTV at tollgates but at times we are shocked to find some disconnected at tollgates. Reason given is that when there is a power outage, they fail to get them running. Statistics have shown that where CCTV is not functioning or where there is manual tolling system, revenue inflows plummet drastically and that is why we need to computerise operations," he said.
Mr Moyo said Zinara has set up a full-fledged risk and loss control department to work closely with law enforcement agencies in tracking all reported cases of corruption within the organisation.
Acting Zinara chief executive officer Mr Gilfern Moyo confirmed the development in Gweru yesterday.
Mr Moyo was addressing a Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) - Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) roundtable dialogue and training workshop for Zinara integrity committee members.
To enhance transparency Zinara with technical assistance from Zacc has set up an integrity committee to strengthen its systems in the fight against corruption.
Mr Moyo said Zinara is weeding out corrupt employees following a scandal at Flamingo tollgate where several employees were caught stealing.
"At Flamingo toll gate in Gweru, we were faced with a theft scandal involving millions of dollars. Seven cashiers were dismissed after they were found guilty of the counts they were facing. Eight of them resigned before the internal process commenced while two were acquitted at the end of the internal process," he said.
Mr Moyo said it was unfortunate that because of corruption, even the extended families of the employees' source of income had been disrupted.
"Zinara instituted thorough investigations after receiving a tip-off from Zacc last year that some employees stationed at the Flamingo tollgate in Gweru were abusing the Zinara prepaid cards. That is the partnership we are looking for and that is why we have the integrity committee in place. We don't condone corruption," said Mr Moyo.
He said Zinara's sole business now is collecting and disbursing funds. Mr Moyo said road authorities who include urban and rural councils, District Development Fund (DDF) and the department of roads were now handling contracts.
"These submit their annual work plans and we fund their plans. We collect and disburse funds and our source of funding is toll fees from tollgates, abnormal load fees that are administered by the Vehicle Inspection Department, among others," he said.
Mr Moyo said Zinara was in the process of computerising its operations so that they remove human interface which is prone to abuse.
"We are beefing up the ICT department, we have installed CCTV at tollgates but at times we are shocked to find some disconnected at tollgates. Reason given is that when there is a power outage, they fail to get them running. Statistics have shown that where CCTV is not functioning or where there is manual tolling system, revenue inflows plummet drastically and that is why we need to computerise operations," he said.
Mr Moyo said Zinara has set up a full-fledged risk and loss control department to work closely with law enforcement agencies in tracking all reported cases of corruption within the organisation.
Source - The Chronicle
